Toy wheeled vehicle



Feb 1952 A. ALBISETTI, TOY WHEELED VEHICIZE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1948 INVENTOR.

BY 37.17.4045 A;a/s:rr/

Feb. 26, 1952 A. ALBISETTI TOY WHEELED VEHICLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 20, 1948 A. ALBHSETTZI TOY WHEELED VEHICLE Fab 26, 31952 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 20, 1948 IIV VEN TOR.

Patented Feb. 26, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

spring-wound toy vehicle which is able to propel itself in a straight line or continuously arcuate course and also automatically change its direction when said vehicle is prevented from following its course by obstacles placed in its path.

Another object of this invention is to provide a spring-wound toy vehicle which will be equipped with a spring-wound motor and a free-wheeling mechanism operated by said motor.

A further object of this invention is to provide a spring-wound toy vehicle equipped with a spring motor, a pair of free-wheeling front wheels and a winding key to facilitate the winding of said spring motor.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a brake mechanism to lock the free-wheeling arrangement aforesaid to allow for a straight line course alone.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a release brake for arresting the operation of said spring motor.

Further objects will be seen as the description of the invention proceeds.

Referring briefly to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal side elevation of the toy vehicle showing the relation of various parts and the position of the winding key (in dotted lines) for Winding the spring motor.

Fig. 2 is a partial longitudinal cross-section showing the spring motor and the manner in which the torsion of the motor is transferred to the free-wheeling mechanism operating the front wheels of the vehicle. n

Fig. 3 is a partial bottom view of the front portion of the toy vehicle showing the manner in which the free-wheeling mechanism is driven by means of a pair of bevel gears and a friction clutch.

' Fig. 4 is a cross-section takenon the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, showing the spring motor and the freewheeling mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, showing a plan elevation of the spring motor, the gearing arrangement and the motor release brake.

Fig. 6 is a cross-section taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3 through the right front driving wheel showing the friction clutch of the free-wheeling mechanism.

Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the manner in which the toy vehicle in question can change the direction of its course upon meeting with obstacles placed in its path, (in this case three wall surfaces).

Referring in .detail to the drawings, [0 represents the outside frame of the toy bus, H the rear and 12 the front'chassis. The toy is supplied with two pairs of wheels, a pair of driving wheels l3 and [4, located at the front and a pair Of idling wheels H5 at the rear end thereof. The front wheels, I 3 and l 4, are held upon a swiveling axle l 5, while the rear'wh'eels [6 are held upon a stationary axle [1. Both of the front wheels I3 and I4, are rotated by means of the torsion of a spring wound motor, while both of the rear wheels 16 are free to rotate upon the rear axle IT. The axle I1 is held to the body of the vehicle, It], by appropriate lugs 18 extending upwardly from the rear chassis I I.

A spring motor I9 is held upon the front chassis I 2, the motor including an upper frame plate 20 and a lower frame plate 2|. Both plates are spaced and held apart by means of upright studs 22, 23, 24, and 25. A train of gears 26 is located within the space provided by the frame plates 20 and 2 I.

The train of gears 26 is operated by means of a spiral clock spring 21. One end 28 of said spring is secured to the upright stud 23, while the" other end is held by the winding sleeve 29. The sleeve 29 has a square winding shaft 30 facilitating the winding of the spring 21. The spring 21 is wound by means of the winding key 3| (shown in dotted lines).

A large gear 32 is held to the lower portion of the winding shaft 30 and below the spring 21. When the spring 2'! is being wound, the shaft 30 turns loosely within the shaft hole of the gear 32. When the spring 21 unwinds itself, its torsion is transferred to the gear 32 by means of the coil spring clutch 33, the latter being wound around the lower end of the shaft 30 and under the gear 32. The manner in which the coil spring clutch operates is .old to the art and need not be described here.

The rotative motion of the large gear 32 is transmitted to a smaller gear 34 which is held upon the upright shaft 35. The shaft 35 also has a larger gear 36 which is in mesh with a smaller gear 31 on a shaft 38. A larger gear 39 on the shaft 38 meshes with a gear 4|]. The gear 46 is held upon the speed governor shaft 4|. The speed governor shaft 41' is equipped with a fly governor 42 for regulating the speed of the spring-wound motor 19. The construction of the speed governor in question is old to the art and need not be described here.

In addition, the large gear 36 meshes with a driving gear 43 which is held upon the upright front wheel i4 being rotated directly by means driving shaft 44. The middle portion of the driving shaft 44 turns within a shaft bushing 45 and its upper portion turns within a hole bearing which is located upon the adjustably mounted plate 46. The lower portion of the driving shaft 44 is equipped with a bevel gear 41, which meshes with a second bevel gear 48. The bevel gear 48 is rigidly held upon the swiveling front axle 15.

The extreme lower end of the shaft 44 turns within a bearing hole which is located uponthe U-shaped bracket 49, the latter being riveted, by means of the rivets 56, to secondary U-shaped bracket 51 (see Figs. 2, 3 and 4).

The front shaft l5 turns within bearing holes located in both extensions 52 and 53 of the bracket 5|. The wheel 14 is rigidly held upon theleft end of the shaft l5 by means of a pin 54, while the wheel I3 is loosely held upon the right side of the shaft I5 and is free to rotate upon it.

A friction clutch 55 is held upon the right end of the shaft l5, consisting in the main of a friction disk plate 56 which is rigidly held to the shaft l5 by means of a set screw 51, and a rubber washer 58 which is located between the friction disk 56 and the hub 59 of the rubber wheel l3. All four wheels l3, l4, l5 and [6 are made of rubber.

A brake arm 60 extends beyond the body of the vehicle I!) and to the left thereof. The brake arm 66 is needed to release the driving mechanism of the spring motor IS. The brake arm 66 is hinged to a forked arm 6i, at 62. The middle portion of the forked arm 6| is swiveled upon a screw stud 63, while its other end 64 contacts the speed regulating governor disk 65. To release the driving mechanism of the motor, the forked arm 64 is moved away to disengage from the disk 65, thus allowing for the latters freedom to rotate.

An arm 66 is hinged upon a lug 61 on a horizontal axis positioned longitudinally with respect to the vehicle, which extends beyond and from under the front chassis I 2. The arm 66 is used when it is necessary to lock the swiveled axle IS in place to prevent it from swiveling: g

I have described in detail 'the'construction of the spring wound motor l9, but it can be seen at a glance that to operate my toy vehicle, any spring motor of standard variety can be used. The toy vehicle might be' also operated electrically or by some other means.

When the motor [9 is wound by means of the winding key 3!, the brake arm 60 is moved into a locking position to restrain the motor from unwinding. After the spring has been fully wound, the brake 66 is released and the toy is placed upon the floor, first making sure that the arm 66 is swung to its neutral position (horizontal) shown by the dotted lines (see Fig. 4).

As long as no obstruction is met by the moving toy vehicle, it will continue to move in a straight-line or continuously arcuate course, the

of the pair of bevel gears 41' and 48, while the front wheel I3 is rotated indirectly by means of the friction clutch 55.

The instant the toy vehicle meets with a solid obstruction, such as chairs, tables, walls, etc., its forward motion will be arrested, although the front wheels will continue to turn.

Inasmuch as the wheel I4 is directly rotated by the torsion of the spring-wound motor while the wheel I3 is idling upon the axle l5, being only taken along by means of the friction clutch 55, the front axle will be forced to swivel on the axis of the shaft 44 and hence the vehicle will be forced to change its forward motion and turn in the direction shown by the arrow A (see Fig. 7). Thus, it completely clears the obstruction. This action will repeat itself as long as the spring motor supplies the power for forward motion and every time the vehicle meets with an obstruction in its path. Referring more particularly to Fig. 7, three such instances are shown at B, C, and D.

To make it possible for the vehicle to follow a straight line course continuously, the bracket arm 66 is hinged down over the U-shaped bracket 5| to prevent the latter from swiveling upon the driving shaft 44.

It is understood that modifications from the foregoing description of the construction and operation of my toy vehicle are possible, and I, therefore, do not desire to limit myself to the strict interpretation of the text aforesaid, but limit myself only by the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A toy vehicle including a body, a driving motor supported by said body, front wheels and rear wheels, said rear wheels being idly rotatably mounted on the vehicle, a vertical shaft operatively connected with said motor for rotation of the shaft by the motor, a front axle having a gear thereon, said shaft having a gear thereon in mesh with said first gear, said axle thereby being rotatable by said shaft on the axis of the shaft when said front axle is restrained from rotation about its own axis, one of said front wheels being rigid on said front axle, the other of said front wheels being loosely rotatable on said axle, a friction clutch partly on said axle and partly on said other of said front wheels normally frictionally locking the latter front wheel on said axle, said motor through said shaft and said gears normally rotating said axle and said front wheels thereby providing locomotive traction for the vehicle, said front wheels when the vehicle meets an obstacle which prevents-its continued movement in the same direction being prevented from continued rotation on said axle by said obstacle whence the power of said motor exerted through said shaft causes said shaft to swing said axle about the axis of said shaft whence said clutch slips and said front axle pivots about the point of contact of said one of said front wheels with the surface on which the vehicle rests thereby steering the vehicle onto a new course clear of said obstruction.

2. The vehicle set forth in claim 1, including an inverted U-shaped frame comprising a hori-,- zontal member and two side members depending from the ends of the horizontal member, said axle passing rotatably through the lower ends of said side members, said shaft passing rotatably through said horizontal member, said gears being positioned between said side members, "and means for restraining said frame and hence said axle from swinging on said axis comprising a pivoted arm pivoted to the underside of the body, said pivoted arm having a length sufiicient to cause the same to intercept said frame in one position of the pivoted arm to preventrotation of said axle about said shaft thereby causing the vehicle to steer in a continuous path, said arm being swingable about its pivotal axis outof said position of interception.

3. The toy set forth in claim 1, including an inverted U-shaped frame comprising a horizontal member and two side members depending from the ends of the horizontal member, said axle passing rotatably through the lower ends of said side members, said shaft passing rotatably through said horizontal member, said gears being positioned between said side members, said axle and hence said frame being adapted to be positioned transversely with respect to the vehicle thereby steering the vehicle in a straight course, and releasable means for restraining said frame and hence said axle from swinging about said shaft out of said transverse position,

ALOIS ALBISETTI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,321,206 Hansburg et a1. Nov. 11, 1919 1,756,539 De Filippis Apr. 29, 1930 1,846,823 Westberg Feb. 23, 1932 1,855,702 Berger Apr. 26, 1932 2,152,064 Labin Mar. 28, 1939 2,226,759 Fitzner Dec. 13, 1940 2,461,672 Adamczyk Feb. 15, 1949 

